


Late

by HerbertBest



Series: Two Lonely People [5]
Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Consensual Infidelity, F/M, Fade to Black, Loneliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 14:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7848676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerbertBest/pseuds/HerbertBest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ross is going to be late. Holly fills the time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late

“I’m gonna be late tonight.”

Holly stares at the phone, lets Ross’ voice wash over her. “Where are you and Barry going?”

“I didn’t say I was going anywhere with Barry,” he said lightly. She sighed at his hubris. She knew. Why did he bother lying?

“I guess I’ll see you by five again?”

“I promise I’ll be earlier, Hol.”

But she didn’t believe in him anymore when he tried to comfort her. Lying on the couch with two birds bopping and weaving as they hopped all over her body, she felt as empty and purposeless as a perch. 

 

*** 

She turned the phone over between her fingertips. She knew the result of her longing wasn’t going to get her much of anywhere if she didn’t press the button and call him.

But no. He was out, obviously. With another girl, free and single, happily enjoying the fruits of his fame. Holly’s eyes lit upon the cosplay project she’d been working away on; the hem looked uneven. She found her sewing kit and got to work.

*** 

The house was so quiet on a night like this; close to twelve, the clock chiming softly in the hallway. Holly finished her mending and sat up with a groan. No sign of Ross. Not even a single phone call. She found Feathers and brought him out of his cage while Honeybun squawked at her. He got some scritches before she took Feathers away, into the sanctity of the bedroom. 

He always seemed to know when she was down. Billing and cooing, he settled down in a puffy ball in Holly’s open palm, letting her brush the back of his neck gently. 

“Whosa good boy?” she wondered. The pigeon closed his eyes as she gently rubbed the top of his head. She would share a meal with him, snuggle him close, and watch some TV. He was smart enough not to protest when she threatened to make little tiny lace booties for him out of the scrap. 

“I think I’ll make you another set of pants,” she said, playing with the excess of corduroy she had slumped in a pile on the side table. 

*** 

 

She woke up a few hours later to the sound of the water heater switching off.

Holly’s eyes shot wide open as she noticed the clock had stopped dead. An outage. She checked her phone. Another message from Ross telling her he’d be home after it was over.

Something in her breast hardened against him. She tucked Feathers back into his cage and found a comfortable hoodie to put on before heading to the car.

 

*** 

Dan’s house was a longer drive away than his condo with Barry had been. She passed an endless number of similar-looking houses on a long street. He hadn’t gone gated community yet; no one would worry about her, see her, when she slid into his driveway and knocked carefully on the door.

He was alone when he opened it up, with a half-full container of ice cream in his hand. There was no waft of perfume, no hastily donned clothing; he wore an old teeshirt and briefs, his hair messy and his eyes sleepy.

“Holly?” he asked quietly. Sounded almost like he’d seen a ghost. Maybe she looked like one, a wraith, desperate to feel like someone loved her. 

He didn’t expect her to charge him, to kiss him. She felt the slick, cold mass of cardboard and ice cream squash flat between their bodies before she stumbled into the room with Dan, kicking the door shut, leaving a blood trail of chocolate to his bedroom, the scene of betrayal and rebirth.


End file.
